archives

By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
New York

My first overseas trip as a reporter came in the 1990s, when the National Catholic Reporter dispatched me to Austria to cover a national assembly of the Catholic Church. While in Central Europe, I also went to Slovakia and Hungary to interview leading churchmen there. I was accompanied by Hubert Feichtlbauer, a veteran Austrian journalist and commentator on Catholic affairs, who has since become a good friend. I recall sitting in the train on the way to Budapest preparing for an interview with Cardinal László Paskai, while Hubert caught up on some back copies of NCR.

Mary Ann Glendon is the eighth Ambassador of the United States to the Holy See, and by most measures she's probably the nominee least in need of on-the-job training. Glendon is a veteran Vatican insider, having represented the Holy See at the 1995 Beijing conference of the United Nations on women, and having served as president of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences -- the first woman to head a pontifical academy. A professor at the Harvard Law School, she's also an expert on international legal theory.

By Jonathan Luxmoore
Catholic News Service

OXFORD, England -- Taking inspiration from sports references in St. Paul’s letters, Catholic church leaders in Austria and Switzerland plan an evangelization drive for the Euro 2008 soccer championship in June.

The churches’ program, “On the Ball for 2008 Years,” would help make the tournament an opportunity for building understanding among young Europeans, organizers said.